Sevenglory

The guys in Sevenglory make my job as hard as anyone. They also made it a lot more fun. Spending a half hour with the Valparaiso, Indiana rock band will have you laughing so hard and so distracted by the constant tangents that it’s easy to forget why you wanted to talk to them in the first place. Of course, the primary reason to speak with them is simply that their last album, Atmosphere, was one of 2007’s best rock efforts - the perfect balance of epic and poetic moments. For a small band from a small town on a small label to create such a fantastic sound - well, you get the picture…

So in trying to discuss the album, the production of Don Chaffer (Waterdeep) and 7 Spin Records, we also ended up in the world of backflips, Manburger Mondays and why promoters get the love from these four geniune, hilarious guys.

Soul-Audio: You guys are on an smaller label in Valparaiso, Indiana of all places - is the album getting the traction you wanted to? Is that a struggle to get your name out there?

Gabe: Our concern on this album was that we’d never be able to break radio because of our label being small. And Christian radio sometimes can be set up so that you can’t get in if you’re on a small label - that’s the nature of the way things are. But in the CHR realm, our radio promoter is great and everything has went well.

Fred: We did a radio tour this last year where we visited about 60 stations with our promoter, spending eight weeks with him. That’s flying to California, renting a car and visiting three stations each day. Then doing an East Coast run and Midwest… which a lot of other bands do, but not a lot of bands that are on an independent label. We just have the ability and great people behind us. We don’t have the name, but if you look at the 7 Spin line-up - and we talk about this all the time - we love to work with the bands on our label. I think they’re the best at what they do. And I don’t think a lot of independent labels can say that they have the caliber of music.

Then to be with a guy like Peter who is our manager and runs our label … he started as our booking agent and for six years now, he knows what we need and he does it. We might not blow up as big and fast, but that’s never been what we’re about. We have families, but a family-first model just doesn’t exist in this industry. So we’re fine with that and going the slow route if that’s what it takes. A lot of bands might say that, but doing that is really tough. If we wanted, we could play 300 days per year instead of 150-200. But now we’re trying to back off that number even more and find ways to make more money… [Laughs]

SA: How is that tension between being sustainable, being there for your family and yet wanting to do something for the band’s behalf?

Fred: The amount of shows - we prefer quality over quantity. We’re trying to figure out how to not just make it a show - just doing the music for us isn’t enough. A lot of bands have their causes and we’re trying to figure out our own purpose within that.

Gabe: Also…

SA: You just raised your hand even though this is an audio recording. [Laughs]

All: [Laughs]

Gabe: Just being polite. [Laughs] We play 200 dates a year, so it’s not like we’re dying to get out there on the road. So hopefully our recording will reflect our artistry by having that time.

Caleb: Time home is such a good time, because when you’re on the road all the time, you can really become numb to a lot of things. At least now when we have a show here and there, it’s nice to come back with the guys and just feel refreshed and you feel more at ease.

Fred: We have Manburger Mondays, you know? That’s nice.

All: Manburger Mondays.

SA: Wait, what’s a Manburger?

Gabe: Three quarter pounds of beef…

Caleb: Nothing less than that. Otherwise, it’s a mini-burger.

Gabe: Mixed with bacon and cheese.

Fred: In Valparaiso, we have a community of 25-30 people easily our age who are in the same stage, most of them in bands or in the music in our town. We got together twice last month at my house with a bonfire outside and we have a place where we can gather and talk about life. That’s a cool thing.

Caleb: All you need for that is some soy sauce, eggs, meat and a bit of love…

Josh: And you’ve got a Manburger Monday.

SA: Let’s switch to the record - did you go in sonically trying to reach as much as you did? I mean, the album really could have fallen apart under the weight of trying to reach for all the places you wanted to go, and yet it holds together so well.

Gabe: Yes! We worked with Don Chaffer from Waterdeep - an amazing guy. He’s such an organic guy, such as ‘let’s use a timpani [drum] in this song’. If he wanted a weird sound, he wouldn’t use Pro Tools. He’d try to find a way to make it out of duct tape and love. It was a cool experience.

SA: You’re the second guy to use ‘love’ as an ingredient. It goes well in Manburgers and epic songs.

All: [Laughs]

Josh: This was my first professional recording that I was a part of and I have never had so much fun. A lot of it really did have to do with reaching out for more, for lack of a better word, just going for it. The first song, “All You Want,” we had a tiny amp the size of a Matchbox car in the bottom of a tin pail or bucket with just a microphone and then Don would say ‘grab that hand drill, we’ll use that in this song.’

Gabe: I was cleaning my drums in the other room and he yelled ‘grab that drill and get in here… stand in front of that microphone.’ [Laughs]

SA: There’s a silly genius there…

Gabe: Absolutely.

Josh: Once we got to know Don, then it was awesome. After that first day, that whole session, we did eight songs in ten days and from morning to night … sometimes there would be these dumb ideas like breaking out with a Journey solo in the middle of a song, but…

Fred: We wanted to do this guitar solo in the middle of “Atmosphere” and we wanted to put in some rumbling, so me and the assistant producer got in front of these microphones beating our chests and going ‘uh-uh-uh’ [beats chest and makes odd noise] I know you can’t write that, but… [Laughs]

SA: Yeah, what am I supposed to do now?

Fred: [Laughs] We’re not a gimmicky band but it translates to the stage. We’re all about having fun though. When we get to the show, we even want to make sure the promoter is having a great time. It’s saying, ‘if I have to be away from my family right now, I’m going to make sure this is a good time.’ It’s not worth it otherwise and on stage it’s even more important. As entertained as kids are today, you have to really go for it. We don’t go for it as much as others, but there has to be some degree of that.

Josh: I did a backflip once and it didn’t go well. The show stopped right there.

All: [Laugh]

SA: How did you hook up with Don?

Fred: Peter, the head of the label. We’ve been there for three and a half years and he sent one of our labelmates out there, Red Umbrella, to work with him. And we went out there for one song and we loved it. So this time around, we said, ‘Peter, we have to work with Don.’ He’s just got a great beard…

Caleb: He really does. And he is really talented and great to work with.

Fred: We worked with others on this album as well and they were all great to work with. But Don is really a great guy to work with.

Gabe: We spent ten days in Kansas City with him.

Fred: We also worked with Michael Quinlan, who produced Benjamin Gate. He’s a family friend to us. Then we also worked with Ian Eskelin and he produced two of the songs. He also co-wrote on three.

SA: There seem to be so many vying for so few spots in the market you’re in…

Fred: Oh man, we’ve been doing this for seven years and for the last three or more full-time. We get all repeat business. That’s essential for us with the way that bands are popping up all over the place. So if someone isn’t calling us back, that’s not good for us. We’re not being nice enough.

Josh: Our manager said the other day that we’ve only had one venue not call us back to book us again in four years.

Fred: And that’s not because of us. That was a hardcore club and we’re definitely not hardcore enough. [Laughs]

Josh: It was that backflip day.

Gabe: I think a lot of bands would do well to focus on making things quality and hitting a place time and again rather than a million different venues. The relationships you build with the venues… your ministry can be all about the promoters if you want. It’s a great thing to have a great relationship with a promoter, especially 150 promoters.

Fred: I still get emails all the time from promoters sharing prayer requests and things like that. To genuinely be able to say that I care about that is awesome. Some of them have become great friends. They’re not just some guy. It makes it worth it for our families. Josh: Plus I email them four times a week before we get there, so they have to know us. [Laughs]

• www.sevenglory.com
• www.myspace.com/sevenglory

Does it Resonate with you?

Name (required)

Email (will not be published) (required)

URL